Nymphai
IRL A nymph (plural: nymphai) is a minor female nature deity in Greek and Roman mythology, typically associated with a particular location or land form. Etymologically, the word nymph is related to the Greek word for bride. The male equivalent is a satyr. * Eleionomae are aliased as heleionomae (hell-lei-oh-no-may). * Epimelides are aliased as meliades (mell-eye-ades). * Oreads are aliased as orestiads (ore-stye-ads). * Nereids (nere-ids): Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, they can't/don't exist in Baolynn. Also aliased as haliae (hal-eye-ay). In Nordic mythology, a dísir was a minor female fertility deity. In Slavic mythology, a rusalka is a female spirit that is undead and entices men into the water. Potentially less nymphy and more sireny? In Baolynn They have blue skin tones; brown, black, purple, green hair colors; and blue, brown, lavender, and amber eye colors. Their ears are slightly shorter than a hand and curl forward, while their eyes have white scleras and rounded black pupils. Male nymphs do occur, but they're a rare sight. The different types of nymphai are as follows: * Anthusae (an-thu-say): Flowers * Asteriae (as-tear-ee-ay): Stars. The most special type of nymph. * Aurae (or-ay): Breezes * Crenaeae (cre-nay-ay): Wells and fountains * Dryads (dry-ads): Forests; sometimes individual tree species ** Hamadryads (hama-dry-ads): A dryad of oak trees. ** Meliads (mellie-ads): A dryad of ash trees. * Eleionomae (el-lei-oh-no-may): Marshes * Epimelides (epi-mell-ides): Pastures and sheep * Heleads (hellie-ads): Fens * Lampades (lam-pades): Torch-bearers of the Underworld. Due to the nature of their profession, it's common to see lampades with soot stained skin. * Leimoniads (lei-mo-niads): Meadows * Limnatides (limb-nah-tides): Lakes * Melissae (mell-iss-say): Honey and bees * Naiads (nye-ads): Fresh water * Nephelae (neph-el-ay): Clouds * Oceanids (ocean-ids): Salt water * Oreads (or-ee-ads): Mountains * Potameides (pota-mei-des): Rivers * Pegaeae (peh-gay-ay): Springs, ponds Stereotypes They're cheerful, naïve, and lust driven party girls. The males are timid and hide. Notable Examples * Glykeria Metaxas * Gwyneira Prasiaon History & Culture Nymphai don't usually have opposite-sex marriages because the sexes don't intermingle, except once every decade. The men aid in caring for the woman they got pregnant and when she gives birth, the father returns to his pre-baby life. If she gives birth to a male, he returns to that life with the baby. Across most other cultures, the term "friend of the nymphai" has been used as a euphemism for homosexuality because of the race's strong ties with it. Which, by the way, is a fortuitous thing given their average lifespan of 230. They come of age at 75. Trivia * Here's the thing: various star nymphai exist in Greek mythology, but they're never called asteriae. I mean, Asteria is an obscure titaness because ancient Greece was an empire with a widespread, loose culture and there were technical star nymphai, but no straight out star nymphai. * The world’s wetlands are ecosystems in themselves and are defined by the flora and fauna they support. Marshes are nutrient-rich wetlands that support a variety of reeds and grasses, while swamps are defined by their ability to support woody plants and trees. Bogs are characterized by their poor soil and high peat content, while fens have less peat and more plant life than a bog. * The traditional lifestyle of nymphai is based on ancient Amazonians. * The term "friend of the nymphai" is derived from "friends of Dorothy", a human euphemism for homosexuality that was used through the 1950-60's. * Methemoglobinemia (meh-thay-mo-gloah-bih-nee-mee-uh) is a blood disorder with common aesthetic symptoms such as blue skin. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen into your bloodstream before releasing it. A type of hemoglobin called methemoglobin carries oxygen as well, but doesn't release it. Methemoglobin occurs in levels under 1%. Anything over that and your blood becomes oxygen deficient and more blue. Severe levels press into deprivation with symptoms worse than merely blue skin, like uh, y'know, death.